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Saturday, October 3, 2009

I was exceedingly ready to leave work yesterday at 4:30pm. It was another long week, probably because of fighting off a nasty bug and working while you are not feeling 100% is never fun, am I right?

My amazing hubby has also had quite the rough week. He has been working insane hours with nearly 40 hours of overtime. This week marked the end of the fiscal year for the Navy and since he works for the finance department of the Department of Defense, it equaled HELL for his team. Really, I haven't seen him all week. He has been going in at 7am and not getting home until 12am, 1am, 2am....ect. Poor guy, needles to say he is exhausted and also still feeling pretty crummy from never fully recovering from his bug last weekend.

Anyways, last night, he promised to leave early so that we could finally enjoy our long awaited date night. It's been put off for a few weeks now due to all of the unforeseen circumstances, and this was the absolute last chance we had to use our free dinners at a great new upscale seafood restaurant in town.

Devons has been on our list to try since it opened. This place advertises the freshest premium seafood, an impressive selection of wines seamless service and an atmosphere that offers a unique blend of the upscale and casual chic. My kind of place and when you have a free dinner and a gift card to use, even more reasons to give it a try.

I was impressed when we first walked in. The atmosphere was indeed upscale and chic and as soon as we sat down, our adorable and friendly waitress greeted us. She went over the specials with us and then proceeded to tell us some of her favorites on the menu (LOVE when they do this because this is usually my first question). She also said to ask her any questions because she has had everything on the menu and can answer anything. Perfect for me, because I am known to ask a question or two... ;)

Okay, my first decision was the wine. I knew I wanted a red, but I was torn between the Zinfandel or the Malbec. The waitress told me I could sample both and then choose.

I went with the Malbec. Definitely a touch more smooth and I thought it would pair well with seafood. I was right.

To start, Toly and I split the Vietnamese Crab Spring Rolls. Daikon, avocado, shiromiso, pea greens, sweet and sour carrots, lump crab meat, and served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. I loved these, Toly, not so much. So I ended up eating most of them.

For dinner, one of the menu items that the waitress pointed out in her favorites was the Wahoo Ono, a firm and flaky whitefish from Hawaii.Toly choose this for his entree along with the lobster mac and cheese and Yukon gold whipped potatoes.

He loved it! He said it was unlike any fish he has ever had. I of course, sampled it too and agreed. Kind of reminded me cross between a MahiMahi and Sea bass. Delicious!

I happily decided on the Seared Rare Char Crusted Tuna served over whipped sweet potatoes and grilled asparagus with a Foyot sauce.

This was incredible. The tuna was cooked to perfection, crusty charred crust but so rare and juicy. And the accompaniments were simply perfect.

I haven't been this pleased with a meal out in quite some time.

I purposely did not stuff myself so that I could save room for dessert. I saw this on the menu from the start and knew that it was going to be a must.

Carrot cake!!! (Almost the size of my head)

Have I told you all about my love affair with Carrot Cake? I don't really like cake, but give me a cake made from a vegetable and I am all over it!

I am so happy we were able to finally enjoy our romantic, fancy meal at Devons. This is definitely a pricey place, but a great option for a special occasion. I give it two thumbs up!

This morning, I geared myself up for my first long run since my half marathon. It's been a few weeks since I've done any distance running, so I wasn't sure how much I was going to be able to handle. I thought I would start with 8 miles and see how I felt. Having a relaxed mindset with running is great. No schedule, just doing what feels good.

Turns out 8 miles felt great, so I did 2 more and finished a glorious 10 miles in just under an 1:30min.

I came home, stretched, showered and immediately began working on my bowl of oats.

I have had Pumpkin Oats on the brain for weeks.

It's been way too long since pumpkin oats have been missing from my life.

For some reason, pumpkin and blackberries always paired so well together for me.

And this, of course was another beautiful paring....

Found this at William and Sonoma and almost knocked over the display with excitement.

Oh my, did I ever enjoy this breakfast.

After eating, I ran some errands for the week, which included the grocery shopping.

Later on, I was hungry for lunch and craved something light and refreshing.

A sammie fit this craving quite well. I made a turkey, spinach and pear on an Arnold wheat thin but the very best part of this was the spread...Bottom half was dijon and top half was Cranberry chutney mixed with a Laughing Cow Cheese wedge. (This is my new favorite condiment obsession)

With some grapes, carrots and a few more slices of pear that fell out of the sammie.

Yep, I was right, this satisfied my every craving.

Toly is working again today, but he did call and said that he should be home early tonight, so I am going to make a nice dinner. He deserves it because he hasn't had a home cooked meal all week.

Ahh I'm so glad you enjoyed your meal out. I'm not a cake gal either but carrot cake is one that I reallllly like :D

Oh my goodness that pecan pumpkin butterrr, I can imagine that you almost knocked the display case lol. They would've been very upset, but then they'd understand why ;) I saw some pumpkin butter with port at TJ maxx the other day. And that mashed butternut squash m'mmm good.

I'm the same way! Cake doesn't do much but CARROT CAKE I'm all for, you know that already :) I've never seen pecan pumpkin butter...I just got the TJs regular pumpkin butter and I've been loving it to pieces. So glad you finally got a date night in. Hopefully the hecticness dies down soon so you both can r-e-l-a-x!

My eyes are spinning at this post. TOO much deliciousness! LOVE that sammie with the cranberry chutney, and that crazy tuna on top of SWEET POTATOES!!! And your salmon! AAH! I was just talking abt how much I miss salmon and there you are rubbing it all over my face...lol!

I'm so happy you got to have such a great "date" with your wonderful hubby...poor guy, I'll bet he's exhausted!

Carrot cake is my fave too! I would even take it over chocolate, amazingly enough! Williams Sonoma was my first pumpkin butter experience last year. They had used it to make some sort of dessert thing that they were giving away free samples of--glorious! I should try to find the recipe for you.

hahah that is BEYOND funny and coincidental!! hahah I'm glad we both enjoyed our dinners!! I showed the pics of stuff you ordered to my bf and he found it hilarious!!! Go us for that foyot sauce on the side!! Devon needs to think about switching out that sauce for sure! hehehehe

Dang, i have been lusting over pumpkin butter for over a year now and have not justified it in my head to go to TJ's and buy a bottle cuz I figured I'd make some myself. UH unfortunately that hasn't happened YET...if that pecan pumpkin butter is as yummy as it looks, i might have to forgo making my own! heheheh